Haaaay, shady lady! Okay, I know you’re not shady… It’s just that for some reason every time I think of the MAC Shadowy Lady quad from last week’s Cult of Cherry collection I am compelled to shout “shady lady!”

A few days ago, reader Lexi asked to see a face of the day with the Shadowy (Shady!) Lady quad. That sounded like fun, so here’s the look I wore to work yesterday — a light purple eye with a bright blue liner.

Cheeks

Next, I applied Stila Sun Bronzer with a 116 blush brush, starting near the outer corner of my right eye and swiping down the curve of the cheek bone (under the apple of my cheek). Then, I swiped back up the same way. From there, I swiped the brush over the right temple onto my upper forehead just below the hairline (reverse and repeat the process on your left).

Using a 217 blending brush, I applied Smudged Violet onto my lids, blending out the edges with the same brush.

To make the outer corner look a bit smokier, I added Shadowy Lady with a 224 tapered blending brush and applied the color with a small, circular motion.

To line my eyes, I wanted something a bit different than my regular old black liner, so I wet a 212 flat brush with a spritz of MAC Fix+ and swept the wet brush head across a pan of Deep Truth eye shadow. I applied the wet shadow to my upper lash line, thickening the line as it got closer to the outer corner my eye.

To finish the eye look, I curled my lashes and added two coats of Prep + Prime Lash followed by two coats of Zoomblack mascara (on the upper lashes only).

The Completed Shadowy (Shady!) Lady Look

I am *lurving* the colors in this quad, particularly Smudged Violet and Shadowy Lady. I dig wearable purple shades. I think Deep Truth, the shimmery blue, is also gorgeous, but I’ll have to work with it a bit more. I tried using it in my crease the other day but wound up with a hot blue mess. If you’ve got the color and have some ideas for pairings with other MAC shades, I’d love to hear ‘em!

So far, 73 people have commented on this article. How cool is that?

This is stunning on you!! I love what you did with the quad, and I like how Blooming looks with the Stila bronzer. These CoC quads are all sorts of awesome…and I think the Lightly Ripe/Rich and Ripe combo is going to be really popular. I’ll send over my pic tonight of the Spiced Chocolate look…I tried to re-create it this morning and think I did a semi-decent job.

Oh, this is such a pretty look. I love the blue as eyeliner. That is exactly what I thought of when I saw this palette. Out of all of the Cult of Cherry palettes, this is the one I have had my eye on.

And I gotta ask, I love your FOTD’s, and I wanna know how ofter you wear mascara on your bottom lashes in the day? I have always worn mascara on my lower lashes since I was taught how to hold the wand, but I see more looks with no mascara on the bottom. Should that just be an evening/more dramatic look? Just curious for your opinion.

I’m so in love with shadowy lady!:D I got it in the cool palette from last winter, it’s so versatile! ^-^ The look’s gorgeous. The shimmery lips fit so well.
I’d pair Deep Truth with a lighter blue. Maybe it could look great with Moonflower!
Hugs :3

Regarding mascara, I rarely wear it on the bottom during the day. Mostly it’s because I don’t like really drawing attention to the lower eye area because of my dark circles. I think that it is appropriate to wear during the day, just as long as you don’t go too over the top and it still looks natural!

KAren.. 1st i just want to say i am obsessed with your beauty blog..its amazing

2ndly.. im in the uk just foaming at the mouth for cultof cherry. I already have my wanted list.
In the uk they wont let us see the mac usa site (redirects straight back to the uk one) so you have been my only link to the world of CoC!!

Love it! I passed on this quad because I already have the FABULOUS Deep Truth, and have an overabundance of purple shadows already. But it looks SOOOO good on you! Before I even clicked the link today I thought, “OOh! She lined with Deep Truth!” Very pretty Karen!!

I just got all three CoC quads yesterday and lurrrve them. I’m wearing the shadowy lady one today too with lightfall on browbone, shadowy lady on the inner corner, deep truth on the outer corner, and a light sweep of smudged violet over the whole lid to tone it down a little.

I’m already on page 150 (more or less) of Breaking Dawn! Every night I reach for the book, I read about 200 pages so I’m trying to take it easy.:D
I’m so happy I discovered Twilight! Hope the films are as great as the novels.
More hugs! :3

Yay – my begging paid off! Thanks girl – it looks super cute and I will try deep truth as a liner. I did buy Lightly Ripe too and I still want the Tempting quad! Since I’m taking my daughter for a walk in the park today I think I’m just going to do a neutral eye but with “O” on my lips! I’ll save this eye look for my first date in a long time with my husband!

Very Pretty Karen. I may actually find time to hit the mall Sunday or Monday and check out some makeup for the first time in forever.I’m kinda excited. I’ll be sure to stop by the MAC Counter to check this out. I will probably quickly go into lemming overload though. Lately I’ve been up in home depot and Walmart like every day. By the way…I’ve decided to have a love/hate (with an emphasis on hate) with Walmart. Why does the blue painter tape have to be like $1.50 a roll cheaper than home depot which is right next door.

Yup, I did a pretty similar look, but a bit less dramatic, I think. I didn’t wear as much Brash this time around. I also kind of had a hard timd keeping the shadow liner on my bottom eye line (or whatever it’s called…lol ) but it looked pretty good for a first-time attempt at this look on my own.

I also got sucked into buying some MAC brushes for the first time, and I have to say that I love them. I’m used to my brush sets from Sephora, which are still good, but the MAC brushes are a bit denser and easy to work with, if that makes any sense. The 266 is my new favorite I know you like MAC brushes, but are there any other brands you happen to like too?

Hi Karen, I decided to come out of my “lurking and hiding” stage and officially say I am addicted to your blog, and love reading your posts. I’ve been perusing your site for a few months now, and although its been horrible for my bank account, it’s been great for my makeup skills! Thanks for posting your looks, recommendations, etc. Now I just need to decide which of these CoC quads will go best with my blue eyes, NW25 complextion, and brown hair!

this is soooo wearable, yet colorful and fun (what I strive for quite a lot with makeup and faces of the day!)…..another great look to try to copy. smudgeable violet looks amazing on you. your eyes look just overall sparkly in that last photo, yet close up there is a little surprise pop of blue.

Girl! You are officially a homeowner if you’re always kicking it at Home Depot and Walmart! That’s so great.

Hopefully when you hit the mall the new Laura Mercier Lip Velvets will be out so you can try them. I’m still stalking the counter and they haven’t arrived… Did you ever pick up any fall goodies from the Estee Lauder?

I am about to have an Emergen-C in a second. I got about 2 seconds of sleep last night!

Yeah, I know what you mean about the lower lash line shadows staying in place. If you have any “clear” primer, like Urban Decay Potion Primer or Too Faced Shadow Insurance around, you could try running a lil’ bit underneath the lash line before you apply the shadow to give it something to stick to. Also, another trick is to apply a pencil liner first, and then smudge the shadow on top. I find that this helps keep it in place, too!

For brushes, I’ve recently “re-discovered” Sephora brushes. I have a few eye brushes from their Smokey Eye Kit and I like ‘em more than I thought I would. The Sonia Kashuk ones are also good, too, and cheeeeeap!

My MAC brushes will always be my faves. They have seriously taken a beating for the last few years and they still perform great.

Thanks, Karen. I’m hitting the MAC counter (and sephora, and god knows what else) on Thursday night, after my hair appointment. Fall is the perfect occasion for a mini-makeover, isn’t it? I’ll let you know what I end up getting!

I usually use UD primer potion and then the lightest shade I’m wearing as a base, although that’s mostly because my application skills aren’t super great so darker shadows tend to look splotchy if I apply them right on top of the primer potion.

I know what you mean about the dark circles I’ve been going light on the lower lid liner for years because of those things…

You’re welcome! Have fun hitting all the counters… say hi to all the Dior shadows for me while you’re shopping, LOL. I’ve been loving them lately!

You’re right — tall is the perfect time for a makeover. I want to cut my hair now, too. I know I should probably keep it long since the weather will get cold (long hair keeps me warm!) but I’m itching for something different. Are you going for a dramatic cut?

I used to use UD Primer Potion back in the day! I quit, though, because of the same issues — I couldn’t put dark shadows on top of it without it getting all splotchy and crazy. You aren’t the only one, girlie!

I hear ya on the light lower liner! That’s one of my tricks, too, LOL.

This is super cute! I haven’t even touched this quad yet because I’ve been all over the other two. I’ll have to try a few looks before the weekend. I stopped by MAC again today and grabbed the rest of the lipglasses (Liquer and Cherry Blossom) and O. The MA was wearing an amazing look: Sharp all around the inner half of her eye, top and bottom, and the Spiced Chocolate quad on the outer half and crease. She blended the browns and green together so that it formed an angle from her pupil slanted inward. It was soooo pretty! I’m going to try it and I’ll send you a pic if it works!.

Heeyyy! I’m back from my camping trip (thank gawd)! This may sound silly, but every night (both) as I lay freezing in our tent, I distracted myself by thinking about MAC’s COC collection! Even the colors I don’t have and don’t want! They’re so dramatic, they occupied my thoughts quite nicely!

That said, this is the quad I have, and I love it! I love this look! It’s so stylish and quite lovely! Well done!

How do you manage to keep getting (even) better with these looks? I’m going to sound like such a broken record but this is one of my favorite looks on you. I was so bored and down and out today, this post inspired me to go for a make-over at the MAC counter tomorrow. Wish me luck!

You will be surprised, but try pairing the blue shade (mid lid to outer corner) with a warm dark brown color (on the outer corner crease)…use a beige golden light shade on the inner corner and make sure to blend well…..it is a beautiful but unlikely pair. I learned that combination from a makeup artist that has worked on Kate Moss, Claudia Schiffer, Eva Herzigova, Lady Diana, etc…..beautiful!

Hi Karen. I think there’s something about your lips. Every time you show a lip look, it’s always stunning! Makes me wanna get the lip products but they never look the same on me. But I will still try this combination when CoC launches.

I’ve been lovin’ on the Kirsch mattene (patted on lightly since it’s still warm weather), so I’ve kept the eye look subtle. Lightfall all over with Smudged Violet (<3) smoked out in the outer V. I also tried Shadowy Lady wet as a liner with this look and it is sooooo beautiful! I can’t believe I even considered for a moment NOT getting this quad!

I did try lightly blending in a little Deep Truth at the outer edge and it sort of intensifies the colors into violet rather than plum! It’s a pretty option for getting a broader color range out of the palette!